The next morning dawned sunny, bright and frigid – a rare combination for London in March. Once again Dr. Kirk, Sherlock Holmes and I convened around a plate piled high with Mrs. Hudson’s freshly baked pastries and hot pots of tea and coffee.
Dr. Kirk, I noted, had traded his dark suit for a more relaxed turtleneck and plaid wool shirt. And Holmes, quietly introspective, wore his favorite claret smoking jacket. I took their more informal attire as a sign of growing trust and comradeship. Although certainly feeling convivial myself, I remained true to my brown herringbone jacket and wool trousers. It was a chilly morning for details.
“Dr. Kirk,” began Holmes, “You likely know that I invented a useful method for detecting bloodstains. I first used that Guaiacum test in 1887.”
“Yes, and I have long appreciated your early work in blood stain detection. But as you know, Mr. Holmes, it is far easier to identify a stain as blood than to determine its species, group or individual origin. The investigators in the Sheppard case, for example, diligently searched for and found many blood spots in various parts of the house – on the two sets of stairs, the garage, the living room rug, even in a spare bedroom.”
Holmes unfolded a faded newspaper clipping for Dr. Kirk’s examination and said, “You’re likely familiar with this August 3, 1954, Cleveland Press headline, “Find Killer’s Bloody Trail,” and the article that follows about cops using new science to find bloody trails throughout the house.”
“Oh yes — typically inflammatory yellow journalism from The Cleveland Press, its Editor Louis Seltzer and his stable of rabid reporters,” replied Dr. Kirk. “Those good old boys and girls did everything they could to incriminate Sam Sheppard, misrepresenting the facts at every opportunity. Luminol testing revealed blood spots throughout the house, alright, but most of it was not human in origin and had nothing whatsoever to do with the murder.”
At mention of Editor Seltzer and The Cleveland Press, I jumped from my chair and lunged for my briefcase across the room. I’m afraid I quite startled my two colleagues, but my reading of 20th century newspapers had led me to this case, and I had made exact notes quoting Mr. Seltzer’s unbelievably inflammatory headlines. I’m afraid I spoke with more passion than professionalism at this juncture.
“Editor Seltzer,” I began in a trembling voice, “also known as ‘Mr. Cleveland,’ used his newspaper to slant public opinion against Dr. Sheppard and to pull the strings of his political puppet, Coroner Gerber! Please consider the impact of Mr. Seltzer’s onslaught of front-page editorials, published just weeks after the murder and before an investigation had even been launched.” I pushed aside Mrs. Hudson’s pastries and spread my list of Seltzer’s editorial headlines across the table.
- July 20, 1954: Somebody is Getting Away with Murder.
- July 21, 1954: Why No Inquest? Do it Now, Dr. Gerber.
- July 27, 1954: Why Don’t the Police Quiz No. 1 Suspect?
- July 30, 1954: Why Isn’t Sam Sheppard in Jail? Quit Stalling and Bring Him In.
“The impact was devastating,” added Dr. Kirk, closing his eyes for a moment, then resting on his elbows and leaning across the small table toward Holmes. “In 1954, the Cleveland Press was one of the most powerful newspapers in the United States. Gaining the support of Editor Seltzer had helped numerous aspiring politicians, including Coroner Gerber . . . and losing his support destroyed them. Louis Seltzer decided that Sam Sheppard killed his wife. He became angry that Sheppard was not immediately arrested and took matters into his own hands. Seltzer got his way as usual, but his blatantly accusatory editorials set the stage for new law designed to prevent this kind of ‘trial by newspaper.’
“One has to wonder,” continued Dr. Kirk, “just how thoroughly Seltzer manipulated the Cleveland Police and Gerber’s investigation. For example, how could the Cleveland Police have been so inept in their blood investigation?
“Back to the dog that did not bark, she was an intact female named Kokie. Court testimony revealed that on at least one occasion Kokie had been inside the house, the basement and the garage when in heat. It’s likely that much of the blood found in the house was that of Kokie. Although we know Mrs. Sheppard was a tidy homemaker, as you well know blood – even when vigorously scrubbed – can never be completely removed from cloth and other porous surfaces.”
“Indeed,” concurred Holmes. “In my laboratory experiments, I found that testing with luminol detected blood diluted with as much as 10,000,000 parts of water.” [1]
“The curious thing about luminol,” I added, “is that the luminol test works better with old, decomposed blood than with fresh blood. It’s particularly useful if a house must be searched for all the blood that has been shed there in the last hundred years.”
“Yes,’ replied Dr. Kirk, “and from the newspaper reports, like the one you showed us earlier, headlining the many spots of blood detected in the Sheppard case, a reader could only assume that quantities of fresh blood had been deposited in trails across the rug from a weapon dripping blood. It was completely misleading.
“But most importantly,” added Kirk, leaning closer and stressing every word, “the one room in the house where shed blood had real significance – the murder room – was the one place where no investigation of blood had been made by the police or the coroner.”
That statement elicited a gasp from me, and even Holmes rocked back a fraction of an inch in his chair before stating the obvious.
“An omission of epic proportions to be sure!” thundered Holmes. Controlling his indignation, he shot a key question to Dr. Kirk.
“What, exactly, did you discover in your investigation of blood found in the murder room? Yesterday you said the distribution of blood on the walls and furniture in the murder room told everything. Please elaborate.”
Kirk nodded once again. He stood while Holmes and I settled back in the sofa with fresh cups of tea – prepared to listen at length.
“Choosing to ignore blood in the murder room was totally incomprehensible, but the police figured they had their man, so the blood pattern seemed unimportant. Ironically, their neglect of this room left intact the most telling and crucial evidence. When I arrived in January 1955, the untouched blood spots on the wall and furniture, like words in a text, contained a complete record of the beating. Every blow that threw blood documented the exact events of the murder, clearly read through analysis of the blood’s flight, impact and pattern of distribution.
“As I specified before beginning my investigation,” reiterated Dr. Kirk, “I had to maintain complete objectivity regarding the identity of this killer. I knew the blood in that room would reveal the truth.”
At this point in his narration, Dr. Kirk shuffled through materials in his briefcase and pulled out some photographs, a hand-drawn layout of the murder room, and a diagram illustrating the pattern of blood spatter exhibited in that room. He laid the first document on the table, pushing aside saucers and teacups. Holmes and I stood round the table as Dr. Kirk referred to the layout while describing his findings.
Layout of the murder room on the 2nd floor of the Sheppard home
“Immediately upon entering the murder room, I realized that proper interpretation of the blood distribution in this room would enable reconstruction of the crime. Blood spots were present on every wall of the room and on the bed adjacent to Mrs. Sheppard’s. Only the ceiling was free of spots.
“Mrs. Sheppard’s bed, just inside the door on the left, held a bare mattress. A great area of blood stain covered its top surface from about a third of the way down from the head of the bed almost to its foot.
“Next to her bed stood the other twin bed, neatly made up with the covers turned part way back – exactly as it was on the night of the murder.”
Dr. Kirk paused and gave us a look of . . . what could only be described as . . . reluctant exuberance.
“Never before had I encountered a blood pattern with such simplicity, combined with richness of detail – so much to work with! – as was offered in that room.
“In order to analyze a pattern such as this, all the principles that govern the flight of blood through the air, and the behavior of the blood drops when they strike a surface, had to be taken into account. Application of these principles makes it possible to determine the direction from which the blood came, and to estimate the speed with which it struck the surface. By combining this information with the well-known characteristics of trajectories, it is a simple matter to estimate the starting point of the blood.
“My application of these principles was aided by the excellent police photographs that had been introduced into evidence. These photographs clearly showed the condition of the blood spots on both the walls and the beds immediately after the murder. Comparison with the photographs proved that the room was in essentially the same condition as it was following the murder. This bedroom had not been cleaned or disturbed during the months between the police investigation and mine, except for the removal to Cleveland of all furniture and the two doors, and their subsequent replacement.”
Holmes had been absorbing every detail in his usual fashion – eyes closed and listening intently with no visual distractions. But suddenly he opened his eyes and raised one finger. “I beg your pardon, Dr. Kirk. I believe you said all the furniture was removed and then replaced. That most assuredly would be considered a major disturbance of the murder room.”
“Of course, but I had no choice but to work within the less-than-ideal situation presented, and the police photos confirmed that items had been returned to their original location,” replied Dr. Kirk somewhat stiffly. Taking a deep breath, he continued his narration by directing our attention to his first document.
“This layout of the murder room represents the condition of the room at the time I examined it. The blood spatter on the walls and the furniture was all present in its original condition because, remember, the Cleveland Police made no attempt to analyze this blood. The two twin beds, the covers and pillow on Dr. Sam’s bed, and the bureau – all shown in the drawing — are in the same position as indicated in prosecution photographs. The extent of blood on the floor could not be determined at the time of my investigation, but some indication was available from testimony and the prosecution’s exhibits. My layout shows all furniture in the room except the rocking chair in the northeast corner of the room, which carried no visible blood or other significant evidence, and the small telephone stand between the two beds, which did not figure in testimony nor in my investigation. Here you see a photograph of the beds and telephone stand.”
The twin beds and telephone stand in the murder room
“Oh!”
“What is it, Dr. Watson?”
“That telephone stand . . . could that tiny stand have held a lamp?”
“Police and prosecution testimony in 1954 never mentioned any evidence that suggested the presence or absence of a lamp in that room,” Kirk explained.
“Well, I must say,” I spluttered loudly, “the State of Ohio continues to make outlandish claims regarding this case. In 1954 the prosecution claimed the blood stain on the pillow was made by a surgical instrument which did not exist. In 2000 the State claimed that this same bloody imprint was the image of a lamp harp and further asserted that Dr. Sheppard had beaten his wife to death with a bedside lamp!”
“What?!” exclaimed Holmes and Dr. Kirk simultaneously.
“Oh yes, this was the accusation made by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William D. Mason and his team of lawyers defending the State of Ohio against a civil suit filed in 2000 by Dr. Sam’s son. Mason and his defense team theorized that the bloody imprint was that of a lamp harp, and they even found a handyman to testify that he had repaired and delivered a lamp to the guest room. However, even if a bedside lamp had been the murder weapon, they had no evidence to prove who wielded such a lamp.”
“Because once again,” spat Holmes, grabbing his teacup and striding toward the window, “an accusation was made with absolutely no physical evidence to back it up. Did they find a bloody bedside lamp, a hastily discarded lamp shade or perhaps shards of glass in the murder room?
“No, of course not,” agreed Kirk. “The prosecution in 1954 never presented a bloody, battered lamp, broken glass or any other evidence that a lamp was involved with this murder. I’m quite certain that even they would not have overlooked such a large piece of evidence.”
Dr. Kirk removed his glasses, polished them, and replaced them before adding one last comment to the lamp discussion. “Hearing you talk about the 2000 civil trial, it’s obvious that the defense team grasped at straws to exonerate Cleveland authorities from any wrongdoing. Let’s get back to real evidence.”
Dr. Kirk unrolled his second document; a diagram he had created to illustrate the pattern of blood spatter in the murder room. He secured the document in place, placing an ink well in the topmost corner and a heavy letter opener on the bottom edge.
Dr. Kirk’s diagram of the pattern of blood spatter in the murder room
“Now take a close look at this diagram, gentlemen. I will walk you around the room as I describe the critically important evidence I found on each wall.” Once again, using his pen as an indicator, Dr. Kirk brought Holmes and me into his examination of the murder room.
“The north wall, opposite the bottom of the two beds, was very significant in respect to blood spots. The majority of this wall contained approximately 20 blood spots that were relatively large and retained high velocity up to the time of impact. Where this wall takes a jog inward on its east end, however, no blood spots appeared for a space of about two feet. The area without blood spots continued through the northeast corner and onto the northern end of the east wall for about four feet.
“Now let’s look at the east wall. As indicated here with this doorknob drawn flat against the wall, a wardrobe door was located on the east wall to the right of the entrance doorway and about four feet away from the side of the murder bed. The lower part of this wardrobe door was heavily spattered with blood.” Here Dr. Kirk straightened and looked directly at Holmes. His words were measured and emphatic when he continued speaking.
“Mr. Holmes, with your dedication to blood analysis and physical evidence you will understand the significance of what I found on this wall. Blood spots here, including the wardrobe door, contrasted sharply with all other spots of blood in the room. These were low velocity drops and exhibited a mixed pattern of impact, predominantly horizontal. The blood drops on the east wall could not have originated in the same manner as the remainder of blood in the room, thus revealing the clue to the entire pattern of events.
“As part of that pattern, I found one unique and very large blood spot on the wardrobe door. It measured about 1 inch in diameter at its largest dimension. It was essentially round, showed no beading and had impinged almost exactly horizontally and at right angles to the door. This large deposit of blood could not have come from impact spatter, and it is highly improbable that it could have been thrown off a weapon. This spot was unique in size and appearance. It almost certainly came from a bleeding hand.”
“And why do you say it came from a bleeding hand, Dr. Kirk?” challenged Holmes.
Dr. Kirk breathed deeply and massaged both temples, but I sensed that he took no offense at the question. To the contrary, I believe he welcomed Holmes’ involvement in his narration and smiled briefly at Holmes as he answered.
“I will address that point in more detail later, but for now, suffice it to say that I conducted extensive laboratory experimentation to determine the origin of that unique blood spot.”
Holmes, always a strong believer in laboratory revelations, seemed satisfied with that answer for the moment, and we turned our attention, once again, to Kirk’s diagram.
“In examining all four walls and furniture, I found that almost all the blood spots in the murder room were part of a radial pattern, except for most of the blood on the bedroom door and the wardrobe door. Therefore, the only possible conclusion is that all, or nearly all, of the blood that flew during the beating came from one point – which meant that although Mrs. Sheppard put up a struggle against her attacker, she was finally knocked unconscious. This follows from the fact that there was no indication of a change of position during the part of the beating that threw blood.”
“Who would do this?!” I felt unmitigated revulsion and could barely speak. “What kind of person would unmercifully beat a woman while she was unconscious?”
“But my dear Watson, that behavior gives us two important clues,” interjected Holmes without emotion. “The killer was known to Mrs. Sheppard. Her assailant knew he or she could be identified. The nature of the beating also suggests extreme anger or hatred directed toward the victim.”
“And as you both know,” continued Dr. Kirk, “study of this radial pattern often reveals the position of the attacker. In every case, it is certain that the person who is doing the beating will intercept blood drops as they fly toward him or her. The presence of an area of the proper dimension, with no blood on the wall, positively locates the position of the attacker.
“In this case, this blood-free region was obvious, and you can see it clearly as a cone-shaped outline on this diagram. It started on the east wall, just north of the wardrobe door, and extended to the northeast corner, barely around the turn of the angle of the room. At the side of the bed, the width of this pie-shaped area was two feet – the exact width of a person.”
Holmes and I already had our magnifying glasses over the diagram when Dr. Kirk directed our attention to a small collection of marks he had drawn on the bed in front of the attacker’s position. He had labeled the marks “smears (knee)” and was eager to explain them.
“Confirmation of the killer’s position was readily obtained when the under sheet of the bed was examined. On this sheet, in a position which would have been on top of the mattress and directly ahead of the established position of the murderer, was an area somewhat larger than a person’s knee on which the blood spots had been smeared across the muslin in a predominantly north-south direction. Such a pattern could only have been made by the movement of something firm over fresh blood spots.
“Here,” said Dr. Kirk, pointing to the smear marks on the bed, “the killer’s knee had rested, to give the necessary support, during the latter portion of the vicious beating.”
Holmes frowned and peered closely at the indicated area on the diagram. Turning to Dr. Kirk, he said, “I remember reading that Sheppard had a blood spot on the knee of his trousers.”
“You remember correctly, Mr. Holmes. But the area I just described was not the source of the blood on Sam Sheppard’s knee.”
Tapping his finger on another spot on his diagram, this one drawn on the side of the mattress and labeled “wet area,” Kirk reminded Holmes of a key piece of information.
“Dr. Sam’s trousers were wet. The one and only spot of blood on his pants was diluted, having mixed and flowed with water, and it matched this wet spot on the side of the mattress. The spot made by the murderer’s knee on top of the mattress had never been wet. It was undiluted blood smeared on the sheet.”
“So, if Sheppard had been the killer,” I proposed, “the facts insist that he would have smeared the blood on top of the mattress with his knee during the beating, then immersed himself in the lake to remove all blood and returned with wet trousers, thereby depositing the second, diluted blood stain on the side of the mattress.”
“But if that had been the case,” mused Holmes, “why would only that one spot of blood on his wet trousers remain? If he had been the killer, his trousers would have been covered with blood. Likewise, if he had tried to wash off all the blood, why would he leave one spot showing?”
“And as we’ve already discussed,” I added, “even if he had scrubbed those trousers with soap and water, Mary Cowan and Officer Dombrowski would have found every spot of blood with a simple luminol test.”
“Why hypothesize? The blood pattern, alone, exonerates Sam Sheppard,” Kirk said, drawing our attention once again to his diagram.
“With the killer’s position known here,” Kirk said, pointing to the northeast corner of the bed, “further interpretation of the blood spots reveals the arc through which the weapon moved.” Here he pointed to the dashed arc drawn on the diagram to the left of the killer’s position.
“Most of the large, low-velocity drops — indicating weapon throw-off — struck the two doors that were partially behind, and to the left of the assailant. No weapon throw-off was present on his right side. The only possible conclusion is that the assailant was left-handed. The weapon was always swung backward on his left side.”
“And Dr. Sam was right-handed!” I proclaimed with a triumphant cheer. Noticing Holmes looking askance at my loss of professional decorum, I added, “although it has been suggested that Sheppard was ambidextrous or swung the weapon from his right hand in a backhanded fashion.”
“Dr. Sam was, indeed, right-handed. This was conceded by the prosecution who stated that no claim had been made to the contrary. There is not a shred of evidence that he is more ambidextrous than any normal person.
“And while it would have been possible to use a backhand stroke, that would have required the weapon to pass over the left shoulder at the end of the backward swing. Looking at the blood spatter, however, we see that the highest point reached by the blood was on the entrance door at the killer’s far left; the lowest point was behind him. This is exactly opposite to the way blood would have been thrown from a backhand stroke with the right hand.”
Dr. Kirk folded his arms across his chest, looked at us with something of a defiant glare and declared, “Gentlemen, if but one fact is definite in this case, it is that the killer of Marilyn Sheppard was left-handed.”
Holmes appeared unconvinced.
“I believe it is also possible, Dr. Kirk, that a predominantly right-handed person – for some reason yet to be determined — may have used his or her left hand to beat Mrs. Sheppard to death.”
Dr. Kirk did not respond but seemed to be taking that comment under advisement. Frowning silently, Holmes turned to the forgotten fire and vigorously stirred the dying embers back into flame. Dr. Kirk and I left him staring into the fire, and I headed off to a troubled sleep.
[1] Holmes would likely have been one of the first to experiment with luminol, first discovered in the early 1900s, but its use was formally devised by German forensic scientist Walter Specht in 1937.
